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SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY 



JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 



Memorial of the Celebration 

BY THE CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES, 

JHontiag ISbcnmg, april 5, 1880. 

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BOSTON: 
BY THE COMMITTEE. 

1880. 



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Franklin Press: 

Rand, Avery, &> Company \ 

uy Franklin Street, 

Boston. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



OF THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 



James Feeeman Clarke. 



Early in March it was whispered among the members 
of the Church of the Disciples that Mr. Clarke's seven- 
tieth birthday was near at hand ; and, in accordance with 
a very general feeling in the society, immediate steps 
were taken to celebrate the occasion in a fitting manner. 
The Pastoral and Finance Committees came together, and 
•chose, from the various church committees and the mem- 
bers of the society at large, a general committee to take 
charge of all the arrangements of the proposed celebration. 
Mr. Clarke's wishes were then consulted, and it was found 
that they entirely coincided with those of the committee. 
Our plan was to have a social gathering in the vestry, 
and not to make it a public occasion, except so far as to 
include all the present and past surviving members of 
the Church of the Disciples and a few of Mr. Clarke's 
classmates and friends. To include even these, it 
was found would occupy all the available room in the 
vestry. 

The General Committee consisted of Charles Allen, 

3 



4 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

Darwin E. Ware, George William Bond, William H. 
Baldwin, Dr. T. W. Fisher, Mrs. E. T. Russell, Henry 
Williams, Charles W. Parker, Mrs. F. W. G-. May, 
Abraham A. Call, Mrs. George W. Thacher, Miss Fanny 
E. Paine, Miss Lucy Goddard, Miss M. Josephine Page, 
Otis Hinman, Miss S. H. Talbot, Emery Cleaves. 

From this number five sub-committees were afterwards 
chosen, viz., a committee on invitations, a committee on 
ways and means, a committee on refreshments, a commit- 
tee on decorations, and a committee on music. 

To these was assigned the various work to be done, 
and they all labored to the end with great zeal and 
unanimity. 

The church record was referred to, a neatly engraved 
card of invitation was prepared, and it is believed that 
all the immediate members of the church, and all those 
of former years now living, were invited to be present. 

There was some hesitation even to the last in deciding 
whether to occupy the church or the vestry for the open- 
ing exercises. We wished, as far as possible, to escape 
formality, and not to lose sight of the fact, dearest to all 
of us, that it was to be a social family gathering, and 
not a public celebration. But we soon began to realize 
that our original plan must be somewhat modified to meet 
the hearty response of those who were asked to contribute 
by their presence and their words to the interest of the 
occasion, as well as to include the spontaneous offerings 
of several of our own church-members. Before the hour 
appointed, the vestry began to fill up, and it was soon 
thronged with those who were eager to offer their con- 
gratulations to Mr. Clarke. Many who repaired first to 
the room above lingered there, till, after a brief consulta- 
tion among the members of the committee, it was decided, 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 5 

on account of the inability to seat the audience below, to 
have the opening exercises of the evening in the church. 
This proved a very happy decision. All were conifortabty 
seated, and no one had reason to feel that the occasion 
lost any thing of its simplicity or heartiness. 

The church, as well as the vestry, was elaborately and 
veiy tastefully decorated with flowers and evergreens, 
through the untiring labor of our friend Miss Lucy God- 
dard, to whom the society has so long been indebted for 
this grateful service. 

On the platform were several of Mr. Clarke's class- 
mates and near friends, — Dr. O. W. Holmes, Professor 
Peirce, Rev. S. G. May, Rev. S. F. Smith, Rev. W. H. 
Channing, Jonathan Davis, Rev. H. W. Foote. 

As soon as the audience was seated, Mr. Allen, the 
chairman of the Festival Committee, rose and said, — 

The spirit of this occasion is informal. We have come to- 
gether as a church, in this religious home, to give some slight 
expression of the respect and the love which we bear to our 
pastor and our dear friend, while he is yet in the midst of his 
powers and activity and usefulness. We would fain forget 
during these sweet moments how much he belongs to mankind, 
and claim him all to ourselves. To-morrow will be time enough 
to give him back to the world. There are those here whom 
you will be delighted to listen to, and I will not stand for an 
instant between you and the sunlight. I will first invite Rev. 
Henry W. Foote of King's Chapel to address you. 

Mr. Foote said, — 

f suppose, friends, that I must begin these exercises because 
of the record which I am about to read, and which goes very 
far back in our friend's life. You will wonder what is the 
meaning of this big book; but I beg you not to have any fears 
that I am going to read it all through to you. It contains one 



b ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

short passage, however, which has a particular interest on this 
happy occasion. When I tell yon that it is the Register of 
Baptisms at King's Chapel, yon will guess that this passage 
is highly important to us, since, if we had not this infallible 
authority, we might think that there was some great mistake 
about the date which is supposed to have brought us all to- 
gether here. This old book, dating from the year 1703, con- 
tains the following record in the handwriting of Col. Joseph 
May, that honored man who was at the time, and for many 
years, a warden of King's Chapel. 

FROM THE OLD REGISTER OF BAPTISMS AT KING'S 
CHAPEL 1703-1823. 
"1811. 
April 14. James-Freeman of Samuel & Rebecca P. Clarke. 

Infant (Born) April 4, 1810. 
(Sponsors) The Parents & James Freeman." 

You know very well who these persons were who stood in 
the old church that April morning with the little year-old child. 
I do not need to tell you who James Freeman was, the grand- 
father whose name was given, and who became sponsor, with 
the parents, for the Christian bringing-up of the little creature. 
Our record shows that no less than seven children of his church 
w 7 ere named after him, and they all bore the name honorably; 
but we shall all agree that there was a peculiar felicity in its 
bestowal on that 14th April, 1811. 

It is partly as Dr. Freeman's successor at King's Chapel 
that I have the privilege of being here to-night, and partly, 
also, because I count myself in some degree a member of this 
Church of the Disciples; for I used to make it my Sunday 
home during much of my Divinity School life; and I look back 
on the Indiana-place Chapel with a very grateful sense of what 
I heard and learned there. But this old record carries my 
thoughts much farther back. You know that your minister 
was not only baptized, as the record reads, but grew up, in the 
old church. I have often been told by my older parishioners 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 7 

that they remembered the curly-haired boy sitting there in the 
''minister's pew," or, still earlier, a child standing on the seat, 
and looking over its high parapet. 

As I was in the dear old place yesterday afternoon in the 
twilight, when the congregation had dispersed, — a time when 
I would advise any of you to linger there who would like to 
feel all the quiet, peaceful associations which fill those old 
walls, — it seemed as if I could see again that picture coming 
up out of the shadows of the past; and the thoughts that gath- 
ered about it took shape in what I am going to read to you. 

Where the three-hilled town is nestled down, beside the shining sea, 
Through the mist of nine and threescore years, a fair sight can I 

see. 
Like a stone- walled fortress builded, stands an ancient house of 

prayer: 
Overhead in the tower the deep-toned bell yet rings 
That sounded with its solemn knell the birth and death of kings; 
And beneath the shadowed arches a happy group is there; 
For thankful hearts give back to God the gift that He has blest, 
And a little child is folded safe to a joyous mother's breast. 
Give him a name of honest fame, 

Of a manly soul and free; 
And keep him true, whate'er he do, 
O God, to Truth and Thee ! 

Swift as a dream the vision flies: behold! a boy is there, 

In his cheek the hues of morning, and beneath his waving hair 

The kindling manhood in his eyes gleams at the call of Truth, 

As the preacher's honest wisdom stirs the soul within the youth; 

And deeper influences fall than any spoken words, 

As echoes of the Prayer and Praise wake the divinest chords. 

Lo! in Thy temple, Lord, he waits; he waits to do Thy will: 

Speak, for Thy servant heareth; with Thy light his spirit fill. 

And may the name of honest fame, 
Of a manly soul and free, 

Still keep him true, whate'er he do, 
O God, to Truth and Thee! 

Swift rolls the rushing river, its waters flashing bright; 
(The roving sun must travel far to look upon that sight:) 



8 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

The mighty Alleghanies lie between thy home and thee; 
But with brave heart bent unto thy task the same true soul I see. 
By earnest toil, with buoyant hope, in steadfast faith and prayer, 
The youth will do a man's true part: no room for doubt is there. 
Blow free, thou wind of God! blow free across the Western land, 
And let him draw thy larger breath, the sturdier to stand. 
Breathe holy pity in his heart, kindling a brother's pain, 
Where he sees the swarthy hands lift up to heaven their clanking 
chain. 

For still the name of honest fame, 

Of a manly soul and free, 
Shall keep him true, whate'er he do, 
O God, to Truth and Thee! 

The strenuous years speed swiftly on; life's noon is in the sky: 
The three-hilled town, a city now, in vision I descry. 
The name that erst for truth and right was known by all the town, 
Still stands, four-square, for right and truth, however men may 

frown. 
The warrior girds his armor on where grim reformers stand; 
Like battle-trump, the earnest word rings through the darkening 

land ; 
Yet mingled with the jarring note Apollo's flute is heard: 
The altar's coal has touched the lips, they speak the prophet's 

word. 
The home, a shrine of loving peace; the church, a larger home; 
And, as in some fair temple the vestals go and come, 
The altar of the busy life is served by Truth and Love; 
And still with visions of the Lord the heavens are bright above. 
For still the name of honest fame, 

Of a manly soul and free, 
Has kept him true, whate'er he do, 
O God, to Truth and Thee ! 

The shadows fall, the night draws near, ripe is the sheaf of years. 
But still the youthful heart is strong; no hint of age appears: 
And mortal years in loyal souls can have no hurtful part, 
For secrets of eternal youth hide in the faithful heart. 
What loving friends are waiting there! what grateful love is near! 
The vision shines that shone of yore; the Master's voice we hear; 
Angels of truth and beauty bend above the radiant way; 
The Indian summer of this life is flooded with the dav. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 9 

God speed thee on thy westering path; at eventide is light, 
And through the sunset glory the stars are shining bright. 
For still the name of honest fame, 

Of a manly soul and free, 
Has kept him true, whate'er he do, 
O God, to Truth and Thee! 

Mr. Allen. We will next hope for the pleasure of 
listening to one who has but latelj- come among us, but 
whom many of you have alread}' welcomed to the church 
and to 3'our hearts, — Mrs. Whiton. 

Speak not of years, I cried ! 
How many rapturous springs have bloomed and died 
Since he was born, to us it matters not; 
It is enough that living he has bought 
The wisdom fitting for an earnest guide ; 
We are content to hear his thoughts' strong tide 
Upon the shore of Progress sweep along, 
And with majestic power break to majestic song. 

To one who truly lives, 
The knowledge born of conflict that life gives 
Is better far than ecstasy of youth. 
Time filters Research into Radiant truth: 
And so we measure not by years, but deeds; 
Count by Love's scattered seeds 
That taking root are blossoming to-day. 
It is enough for us that we can say 
Scholarly friend ! and feel an inward glow 
Of exaltation, it is ours such friend to know. 

We cannot paint a soul. 
If from a poet's heart the thoughts could roll 
Like rushing seas, they would be impotent. 
It is enough, his influence has been lent, 
Keeping the eternal heavens in sight, 

To Truth and Right: 



10 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

Therefore we say, Let the sweet years go by ; 

For each will bring him unto these more nigh. 

We are content, Death even cannot sever, 

For you will live, O friend, in hearts of friends forever. 

Music by the Schubert Quartet. 
Mr. Allen said, — 

In the famous class of 1829, to which Mr. Clarke belongs, 
there is one who is here present, a man most eminent in sci- 
ence, who has contributed much to make America respected and 
honored throughout the scientific world, and yet who finds in 
the profoundest science nothing inconsistent with the purest 
religious faith. We welcome the presence here this evening of 
Professor Peirce of Cambridge, and, though I am not allowed 
to call upon him to address you in person, I will read a letter 
which he has written. 

He then read the following letter : — 

Cambridge, 800404. 

My dear Sir, — When I met my dear friend James F. 
Clarke at the Thursday Club, I felt in peculiarly good spirits, 
and I thought I should easily be able to take part in the cele- 
bration of his seventieth birthday ; but I am myself seventy- 
one to-day, and I feel the debilitating effects of age more than 
a young man like yourself can understand. You must not, 
therefore, depend on me for any thing. There is no one of my 
class whom I ever found to equal Clarke in loveliness, refine- 
ment, and purity of heart and speech. He is a mountain- 
spring, and derives his inspiration from so high a source, that 
there is nothing impure or adulterated in his flow of words, nor 
any thing but the most refined piety in his thoughts. He 
thinks gospel thoughts as naturally as he breathes God's air. 
Should I not be with you, give my dear friend my most devoted 
love. 

Yours sincerely and respectfully, 

Benjamin Peirce. 
C. Allen, Esq. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 11 

Mr. Allen continued, — 

There is another man in that ever-celebrated class, whom you 
will have the pleasure of hearing to-night, who has done as 
much for literature as Professor Peirce has for science, and 
whose name and fame, known throughout the world, are every- 
where identified with our own Boston. Let me introduce to you 
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Dr. Holmes was received with generous applause, in 
response to which he read the following : — 



TO JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 

APRIL 4, 1880. 

I bring the simplest pledge of love, 

Friend of my earlier days ; 
Mine is the hand without the glove, 

The heart-beat, not the phrase. 

How few still breathe this mortal air 
We called by schoolboy names ! 

You still, whatever robe you wear, 
To me are always James. 

That name the kind apostle bore 

Who shames the sullen creeds, 
Not trusting less, but loving more, 

And showing faith by deeds. 

What blending thoughts our memories share! 

What visions, yours and mine, 
Of May days in whose morning air 

The dews were golden wine ; 

Of vistas bright with opening day, 
Whose all-awakening sun 



12 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

Showed in life's landscape, far away 
The summits to be won ! 

The heights are gained. — Ah ! say not so 
For him who smiles at time, 

Leaves his tired comrades down below 
And only lives to climb. 

His labors, — will they ever cease, — 
With hand and tongue and pen? 

Shall wearied Nature ask release 
At threescore years and ten ? 

Our strength the clustered seasons tax, — 
For him new life they mean ; 

Like rods around the lictor's axe 
They keep him bright and keen. 

The wise, the brave, the strong, we know,- 
We mark them here or there, 

But he, — we roll our eyes, and lo ! 
We find him everywhere ! 

With truth's bold cohorts, or alone 
He strides through error's field ; 

His lance is ever manhood's own, 
His breast is woman's shield. 

Count not his years while earth has need 
Of souls that heaven inflames 

With sacred zeal to save, to lead, — 
Long live our dear Saint James ! 

Music by the Schubert Quartet. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 13 

The following letters were then read : — 

St. Louis, Mo., April 2, 1880. 

My dear James, — " Little did I think, and less did I ima- 
gine," that we should ever come to this ! Seventy years, — three- 
score and ten, and by reason of strength looking forward to 
the fourscore. May the good Lord keep you from the ' l sorrow ! " 
— from the " labor" he will not keep you, in his great mercy — 
only from its weariness may you be spared. 

With the sincere affection of fifty years' continuance, I send 
my love to you and to your wife and to your children, counting 
it one of my best blessings that I can call myself your friend and 
brother. 

W. G. Eliot. 

Roxbury, April 4, 1880. 

Dear Mr. Allen, — I am so held by an engagement made 
long since, that I shall not be able to appear in person at the 
birthday party. Will you express to Mr. Clarke my regret ? 
He has already had my congratulations on his health, and my 
good wishes for its long continuance. I call him my l Metro- 
politan.' This phrase is not borrowed from the railway, but is 
ecclesiastical. In the old phrase, the metropolitan is the bishop 
to whom the chorepiscopi (the bishops who do the chores) go 
for their inspiration and their orders. Now, for all he is so 
young, Mr. Clarke's name was on the calendar of the South 
End long before mine, as I came long before Mr. Tilden, as he 
came long before Brother Savage, and as he came long before 
Mr. Carpenter. So I go to him as to my metropolitan when I 
am in a tight place, as you know I often am. 

And a first-rate metropolitan he is. He is so radical, that the 
most radical of us takes shelter behind him ; and he is so con- 
servative, that the most hard-shelled conservative of us takes 
comfort in his wisdom. He is a reformer so audacious, that, in 
our little reforms, we are sure of his encouragement ; and at the 
same time he knows the past so thoroughly, that he teaches us 
how to respect it. He is so old that we celebrate his seventieth 
birthday ; and, as he is quite the youngest and freshest of all 



14 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

of us, we can always make him pull stroke-oar, and he always 

does. 

" Juniores ad labores, seniores ad lionores." 

" Work for the youngsters, laurels for the old," 
So in my boyhood was the promise told. 
For him hard work and laurels; for. in truth, 
Oldest and youngest, he deserves them both. 

Always very truly yours, 

Edward E. Hale. 

Music by the Schubert Quartet. 

Mr. Allen. We shall next have the great pleasure 
of welcoming one of our own number, our gifted and 
accomplished friend and sister, our sweet singer, Mrs. 
Howe. 

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 

Who knocks? Pass on, T pray : 

Thou hast mistook the way. 
All that I had I gave in days of yore. 

If that thy need be great, 

Since Age doth me abate, 
Ask jocund Youth to help thee from his store. 

Yet stay. For whom the feast ? 

; ' For one to whom the least 
Of what we owe is such fond gratitude 

As from the dumb might wring 

Attempted uttering, 
And from thy lips the breath of song renewed." 

Then shall my heart indite 

Whate'er my hand can write 
From out the wasted treasure of my time. 

For, silent here to sit, 

And fear my failing wit, 
My soul should count it very near a crime. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 15 

'Twas thy persuasive thought 

My errant fancy caught 
When height of wisdom matched not length of years ; 

When still, with airy schemes, 

And many-featured dreams, 
I wrought at childish tasks with childish tears. 

If ever to the good 

Of holy womanhood 
Mine own with saintlier spirits did aspire, 

Where was the lesson writ, 

My slumberous sense to hit, 
As by thy hand, in characters of fire ? 

For such a glittering net 

Doth human souls beset, 
That from its bonds they have no power to flee, 

Till smites that sword of truth 

W T hich owes no error ruth, 
And by pain's costly ransom they are free. 

'Twere idle in this verse 

The reasons to rehearse 
For which we crown to-day thy front beloved. 

Thou didst thy life impart 

With such a gracious art, 
We scarcely knew the spell by which we moved. 

What nuptials hast thou blest! 

What dear ones laid to rest! 
What infants welcomed with the holy sign ! 

Life's hospitality 

Was so akin to thee, 
That half of all our good and ill was thine. 

In dark, perplexing days, 
When sorrow silenced praise, 



16 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

We saw thy light above the vapors dim. 

In battle's din and shout 

Thy clarion blast rang out : 
11 The victory is God's, we follow him." 

Thy life has had, like ours, 

Its sunshine and its showers, 
Has reached the heights of joy, the depths of grief ; 

But richer hath it been 

By all the gifts serene 
That make the leader, brother, friend, and chief. 

Bring thou the palm and vine, 

Roses with lilies twine, 
And let us image in our offered wreath 

The life enriched with toil, 

The consecrating oil, 
And love that fears not time, and knows not death. 

Mrs. Howe, as she concluded the final stanza, turned 
toward Mr. Clarke, and offered him a large wreath of 
flowers. This he accepted at her hands, and placed upon 
the pulpit, where its beauty could be seen and admired. 

Mr. Allen. Among Mr. Clarke's other classmates 
who are here, there is one who adorns the great name 
which he bears, — a name now and at all times held in 
the most blessed remembrance in the religious world, — 
Mr. Channing of England. 

The Rev. William H. Channing then gave a few very 
amusing reminiscences of Mr. Clarke's boyhood, and of 
his first appearance at the Boston Public Latin School, 
where they were school-fellows. No one who has known 
Mr. Clarke was at all surprised at hearing that the girlish- 
faced boy, who was teased by his schoolmates, could 
" strike out from the shoulder " in a manner that won for 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 17 

him the respect of the boys who had been inclined to 
chaff him. In summing up his character from his boyish 
traits, growing stronger as he grew into manhood, Mr. 
Channing said he was utterly fearless, entirely conscien- 
tious, and the most faithful man he ever knew. 

Music b}' the Schubert Quartet. 

Mr. Allen. Mr. Clarke, our hearts in this hour all 
turn towards you. We see }'our face, we feel 3^0 ur pres- 
ence, you will not refuse to let us hear your voice. 

Mr. Clarke then said : — 

Looking back over my life I consider myself happy in many 
ways ; and some of them I will mention in the intimacy of this 
hour and of the friendship which surrounds me. I know 
you will not think it egotism if I speak to-night of my own 
history. 

I consider myself fortunate in having been brought up in 
the country. Until I was ten years old I lived in Newton, 
having been adopted by my grandfather James Freeman. My 
father and mother, my sister and four brothers lived near by, 
in the same town, and my grandfather Hull also lived in New- 
ton. So that as a boy I had three homes in the place. My 
grandfather Freeman's house was on high ground and from its 
windows the eye ranged east over valleys and hills as far as 
the ocean, and with one sweep we saw a part of Boston, all 
Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, on to the hills of Weston. 
As I lay in my bed at night, I could see Boston light, through 
a little gap in the Brighton woods. There were only farms and 
woods around us, and I grew up enjoying all country pleasures 
— learning to ride, swim, skate, and rambling about the fields, 
exploring the region for ponds and brooks, where a few speckled 
trout were still to be found. I am grateful that my mind was 
thus early fed on Nature. 

But I was also very fortunate in having a wise teacher, who 
more than any one else I have known, was able to make study 
interesting and delightful. I learned the rudiments of Latin, 



18 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

Greek and arithmetic from my grandfather, who smoothed all 
difficulties in my way, so that before I was ten years old I had 
read some Odes of Horace, and gone with pleasure in algebra 
as far as cubic equations, beside some geometry and a touch of 
trigonometry. I also read a good deal of history, of the United 
States, England, Scotland and Rome. And all this was man- 
aged for me with so much skill that it did not seem so much 
study as play. 

When I was ten, I went to the Boston Latin School, and 
staid five years there, entering Harvard College in 1825. 
Although I did not learn so much at school as I had learned 
at home, yet the contact with other boys was healthy for me, 
and, on the whole, I enjoyed my school life. Our brother, 
George Bond, was in the same class, and there an acquaintance 
commenced, ripening into a friendship which has been unbroken 
for forty years. 

I was also fortunate in entering Cambridge in the class 
which graduated in 1829. Many distinguished men have given 
it renown, three or four of whom I am happy to see here to- 
night. But more than the pride we all feel in the lawyers, 
mathematicians, clergymen, poets who have adorned our class, 
is the satisfaction we have derived from the warm friendship 
and brotherly love which have united us loyally and tenderly 
during so many years. Certainly to have belonged to the class 
of 1829 has been no small blessing. 

On leaving college I hesitated about a profession, at first in- 
tending to study law. I cannot be too thankful that I was 
finally led to decide for the ministry. Never, for an hour, have 
I regretted it. To be able to spend one's life in communion 
with the loftiest themes of thought, to have work bringing us 
into intercourse with the wise and good of all times, to be 
offered year after year opportunities of helping and blessing 
our fellow men, to be able sometimes to be a mediator to 
others of God's truth and grace — what can be a better lot 
than this? 

I do not mean to say, by any means, that I have always 
accomplished, or even attempted, the good I might have done. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 19 

Looking back to-day, I see enough of time lost, opportunities 
neglected. 

11 Let the thick curtain fall, 

I better know than all 

How little I have gained, 

How vast the unattained." 

I am very thankful too that I was brought up among Unita- 
rians, and have from the first belonged to this Unitarian com- 
munion. I was thus spared the bitter struggle I have seen in 
so many others who have had to fight their way out of Ortho- 
doxy, not without some scars from that desolating conflict. I 
never knew the day when God did not seem to me a Father and 
Friend, Christ a human brother and heavenly teacher, and life 
made for perpetual progress. If I have at times been without 
God in the world, I have always known that it was my own 
fault not His. If sometimes life has seemed a burden and the 
way dark, I have never blamed Providence or destiny. I, also, 
have passed through regions of desolation, but the weariness 
has never been embittered by any sense of divine injustice. For 
this I thank my Unitarian training. I may have drifted to and 
fro over my anchor " like a bark in an unquiet bay," but the 
anchor has always held. 

I bless God for the friendships of my life. It is a great 
thing to have had for friends such men as Theodore Parker and 
Charles Sumner, a great thing to have known somewhat inti- 
mately Dr. Channing, Henry Ware, Ralph Waldo Emerson, 
Father Taylor, Ephraim Peabody, James Walker, Francis 
Greenwood. Nor can I ever forget the influence which came to 
me from that noble and wonderful woman Margaret Fuller. 
From her I learned the possibilities of intellectual achievement, 
the power of progress in us all which is the mighty moral force 
of the soul. She did for me, what she did for so many others, 
— aroused me to see the value of life, and how to live for a 
great end. She was my intimate friend during several years, 
and the mental and moral stimulus which I received from her, 
it would be idle to attempt to describe. These friends have all 
gone, but some whom I loved when a boy remain, and are very 



20 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

dear to me still. With such noble workers for human good as 
William G. Eliot and William Henry Channing, I am always 
in intimate relation; though half a continent separates me 
from one, and the wide Atlantic from the other. 

I am thankful, too, that when the time came for me to begin 
my work as a minister, I did not remain in New England, but 
went out to Kentucky, and there staid seven years. Kentucky 
was a very remote place then ; there were no railroads, and it 
took a week by stage to get there. The manners, character, 
culture of the people were very different from any thing I had 
known. But that was an advantage. It was a good thing to 
speak to people who were unaccustomed to the thoughts famil- 
iar to me. I could thus test and try all I knew, and see what 
it amounted to. I was deprived of my usual supports, and had 
to depend entirely on myself. I was surrounded by those who 
thought my creed to be only infidelity under another name, and 
by others to whom all religion seemed a sham or a folly. This 
was hard, but useful as a discipline. I could take nothing for 
granted, I must be able to give a reason for every thing I be- 
lieved. And I also found there noble friends, generous and 
loving hearts, whose friendship has been a joy to me always. 

When my health gave way in 1850, I found a home of 
peace in the lovely valleys of Western Pennsylvania, in the 
family of one who was to me another father. He was the 
kindest and truest of men, joining perfect integrity with the 
most generous benevolence. Born in Europe, early coming^o 
America, settling in Meadville, when it was almost a wilder- 
ness; he believed in free institutions, in liberal thought, and 
gave his influence to all that would promote human progress. 
To have known such a man intimately, must always be to me 
a source of gratitude and joy. 

When I left Kentucky, and returned to New England, in 
1841, I am glad that, instead of being settled in an old church, 
I united with friends in forming a new one. We desired a 
church which should have a social and friendly life, which 
should be free to all, selling no pews, and where the minister 
and people should work side by side, on the same platform. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 21 

This church was formed in April, 1841, with forty-three mem- 
bers. Its creed was faith in Jesus as a teacher and master, its 
aim the study and practice of Christianity. We have worked 
together in this spirit and purpose during nearly forty years, 
and I think our church has done good. Xot so much as we 
might and ought to have done, but yet something. I have had 
great joy in this church, and have been helped by it in many 
ways. What dear friends we have had here, who have gone 
before us into a higher state! Let me, in this hour of com- 
memoration, recall the names of some of them. 

The forty-three who wrote their names in our Church Book 
on the first day, April 27, 1841, after my own, are Nathaniel 
Peabody and his wife Elizabeth, and their three daughters, 
Mary (afterward Mrs. Horace Mann), Sophia (afterward Mrs. 
Nathaniel Hawthorne), and Elizabeth P. Peabody. Then came 
the names of George G. Channing and his wife Mary. Then 
Dr. Walter Channing and his daughter Barbara. Then Sam- 
uel Cabot, his wife Elizabeth, her sister Mrs. Mary P. Cary, 
with her two daughters, afterward Mrs. Agassiz and Mrs. Fel- 
ton, and Martha B. Lyman. Then William R. Sumner and his 
wife Anna, Sarah Clarke, Lucy Goddard, Benjamin H. Greene 
and his wife Elizabeth, Mrs. Simmons, widow of Judge Sim- 
mons, George William Bond and Sophia A. Bond, Alfred H. 
Sumner, Anna F. Everett, Mary Stevens, Mary Kent, Henry 
Williams, Mrs. Williams, Harriet D. Williams, Martha W. 
Dickinson, William F. Weld, Isabella M. Weld, Samuel E. 
Brackett, Caroline S. Brackett, David Weld, Eliza F. Weld, 
Edward Winslow, Margarett C. Winslow, George Bemis, N. 
Francis, jun., James L. Baker, Leonard Wesson, and Albeit 
G. Dawes. Of these forty-three, twenty-nine are still living, 
and the following eight are still here in this church, — my sis- 
ter, Sarah Clarke; Lucy Goddard, George William Bond, Mrs. 
Mary Stevens, Henry Williams, Mrs. Henry J. Prentiss, Ed- 
ward Winslow and Margarett Winslow. 

How many memories come to me now of the good, wise, 
strong, tender souls who were with us, and are with us still, 
only that they have crossed the flood, while we are crossing! 



22 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

What a company to meet us, when we also pass on ! There 
will be Samuel Cabot, who cast in his lot with us at the begin- 
ning, and remained our warm friend till his death. There will 
be Leonard Wesson, and Henry Prentiss, and James Tolman ; 
John Albion Andrew, Ellis Gray Loring and his large-hearted 
wife ; Madam Goddard as we loved to call her always so true 
and ardent a friend, and Frances Storer, and my own mother ; 
John Farrar and Eliza Farrar, Grace Austin, Eliza Place (Mrs. 
Roberts) ; our dear Susan Hillard, the most unselfish of human 
beings; Hannah Cabot, so wise and strong and kind ; our dear 
brother and my friend and classmate Benjamin Winslow ; and 
Barbara Channing whose life was an act of steady generosity ; 
George Winslow whose early death was such a loss to this 
church, — Henry May Bond, David Norton and Henry Wells, 
— youth who gave their lives to the country; Maria Bond 
Wheelwright, Marie Antoinette Bacon and Susan Jackson, — 
those dear children whom we all loved so well, — James Wilder, 
another classmate and friend. 

But I must stop. I cannot name all those, whom we remem- 
ber to-day. How short is life, yet how long! Swifter than a 
weaver's shuttle as we look back, but how much in it does not 
God give us of love, of usefulness, of joyful companionship, 
of opportunity for seeing and knowing nature and men. To- 
day I look back over a very happy life, and for how large a 
part of this happiness, am I not indebted to you, my dear 
friends, to this church the home of my soul, and more than all 
to him our great teacher and master, in whose name we first 
united, whose name still holds us together, for whose cause 
may God always give us strength to live or die. 

O living friends who love me, 

dear ones gone above me, 
Careless of other fame 

1 leave to you my name. 

Hide it from idle praises, 

Save it from evil phrases: 

Why, when dear lips that spake it 

Are dumb, should strangers wake it ? 

LefC 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 23 

Others shall sing the song, 
Others shall right the wrong, 
Finish what I begin, 
And all I fail of, win. 

After this the following hymn, by Mrs. L. C. Whiton, 
was siino* by the whole audience. 



HYMN. 

BY MRS. L. C. WHITON. 
Tune : "America." 

O Thou, dear heavenly friend, 
Unto our spirits lend 

Thy loving cheer ; 
For with vast tenderness, 
As the whole world to bless, 
Christ gave divinest stress 

To friendship here. 

Smile on us as we bear 
Each heart in fervent prayer 

Up to thy throne ; 
For in supremest hour, 
As when the tempests lower, 
Thy infinite sweet power, 

Father, we own. 

Smile on us gathered here, 
Bringing to one most dear 

Our hearts' full might! 
Thy mercies cannot cease : 
Give him unshadowed peace ; 
Lead him with joy's increase 

From height to height. 

Then, when all time is o'er, 
Upon Heaven's radiant shore 



24 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

Grant us to meet, 
Where souls with souls are brought 
In endless sweep of thought, 
And progress shall be taught 

Through love complete. 

Then Mr. Clarke said, " There is a classmate of mine 
here who has written a hymn which is better known than 
almost any thing in the language, — better, I suppose, 
than any thing in Shakspeare : I mean the hymn begin- 
ning, 'My country, 'tis of thee,' " &c. 

Dr. Smith then read the following lines : — 

SEVENTY. 

BY S. F. SMITH. 

Threescore and ten ! — the crimson sunlight waning 
Lights up the landscape with intenser glow : 

The arch of days — some bright, some dull with raining — 
Is spanned and clasped with heaven's fair, radiant bow. 

Threescore and ten ! — the years consumed in toiling, 
Honored and happy, how they fled away ! 

Earth of its woes, and time, of stings despoiling, 
Day ever brightening into fairer day. 

Threescore and ten ! — how has the infant's prattle 
Changed to the eloquence of active men ! 

How many, fallen in life's stern storm and battle, 
Passed on and crowned, will come no more again ! 

Threescore and ten ! — how fondly memory lingers 
With friends and voices known and loved so well ! 

And, deft with inspiration, fancy's fingers 

Weave the old histories with their magic spell. 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 25 

Threescore and ten ! — yet, marked by no decaying, 

The juicy vine festoons the sunny hill ; 
Its summer foliage fresh and full displaying, 

And clusters ripening on the trellis still. 

Threscore and ten ! — Oh, is it fact, or dreaming? 

How strangely wrong our judgment is of men ! 
In form and feature strong and youthful seeming, 

We lose the date, and think age young again. 

Threescore and ten ! — the evening shadows lengthen, 
And whispering winds their fragrant incense breathe; 

Faith, hope, and love the pilgrim spirit strengthen, 
And hands unseen their benedictions wreathe. 

O life mysterious, whose slow unfolding 

Evades the prying of our human ken, 
We trust the future to His wise upholding 

Whose love has watched the threescore years and ten . 



Supper was served, and a social re-union held in the 
vestry, at the close of the exercises, and the occasion was 
one which will be long remembered b} T those who partici- 
pated in it. 



APPENDIX. 



The following letters and poems, written for the occa- 
sion, were not read on the evening of the celebration, as 
it was thought best by the committee not to make the 
formal exercises too long, but rather to give all a chance 
to see Mr. Clarke personally and congratulate him, and 
to pass the greater part of the evening in social inter- 
course. They are therefore inserted as properly consti- 
tuting a part of this memorial. 

Boston, April 5, 1880. 

My dear James Freeman Clarke, — How gladly would 
I take a seat in some corner and look on, and applaud with 
happy heart-beats while others throng to do you honor! How 
much more gladly would I meet you alone, and have you all to 
myself some precious minutes ! 

You have forgotten the kindly greeting given twenty-one 
years ago to a stranger from the West. How could you know 
that it fell as sunshine on a shadowed path, not only for cheer, 
but for guidance ? And why should I place in your possession 
worthless evidences of a debt I can never pay? Some time in 
that year of 1859 I smuggled my name onto the Records of the 
Disciples ; and, even if it has been blotted out for my sins, you 
are still my shepherd, for your rod and staff they comfort me. 

Of course I dare not praise you : have you not taught us to 
look beyond men? But I thank and praise the Father who has 
brought up such a son, and I pray all the more fervently to be 
worthy a place in His household. 
26 



APPENDIX. 27 

No matter about the years : we are in Eternity with the 
Eternal. 

Yours in bonds that cannot break, 

Charles G. Ames. 

Boston, April 3, 1880. 
Messrs. Hinman, Parker, and Williams. 

Gentlemen, — I received your invitation to meet the friends of 
Mr. Clarke on the 5th instant, to celebrate his seventieth birth- 
day. I am sorry to be unable to attend. I congratulate Mr. 
Clarke on his arrival to his seventieth birthday with the entire 
possession of his physical and mental strength. I also con- 
gratulate the members of his society on their rare good-fortune 
in having such a teacher. I do not know that he has not all 
the requirements and qualifications which St. Paul said a bishop 
should have ; but I think he has one of them in an eminent 
degree; to wit, aptness to teach. Long may he live as a teacher 
and leader in the way of truth and duty ! 

Yours truly, 

H. Montgomery. 



TO JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 

APRIL 4, 1880. 

Seventy years of work and duty, 
Seventy years of love and beauty — 
Blessed in health, and blessed in store, 
Brother, still we ask for more : 
Blessed life sows blessed seed, 
More is coming for our need. 

Many a mind from darkness brought, 
Liberated by your thought, 
Many a wanderer prone to stray, 
Kindly shown the righteous way, 
Ask thee, brother, yet for more : 
Giving can't exhaust your store. 



28 APPENDIX. 

Living founts have you supplied, — 
Cheered the mourner, blessed the bride, 
Braced the weak, and calmed the strong, 
Strengthened right, and battled wrong. 
Brother, none thy work forget, 
And it all is needed yet. 

Loyal friend, you never failed 
Parker's side when others quailed, 
Yet, to thought as feeling true, 
Frankly spoke your differing view. 
Other prophets still may need 
Your true help, in thought and deed. 

In the darkest hour, you gave 
Help and comfort to the slave, 
And to woman were as true 
As one woman is to you ; 
Yet for them still longer stay, 
'Tis their dawn, — await their day. 

Not the spring of youth we ask, 
Not stout manhood's sterner task, 
But the ripening fruit of age, 
Tender love, and counsel sage : 
For the evening's rosy light 
Fairer is than noontide bright. 

When the eightieth year comes round, 
In God's vineyard still be found ; 
Sweeter than the tender leaves 
Are the full and ripened sheaves : 
May thy last years be thy best, 
Full of honor, love, and rest ; 
Working to the set of sun, 
In the fight till victory's won ! 



E. D. C. 



APPENDIX. 29 

HYMN — OUR TEACHER. 

BY MISS H. S. TOLMAN. 
L. M. — Tune : Duke Street. 

The strength and calm of tidal roll, 

The measured sweep of sun-moved sphere, 

And beauty's message to the soul, 
Teach us our Father to revere. 

In treasured work of art's fair speech, 

In poet's thought, and word of sage, 
Quick inspiration we may reach, 

Since holy-writ, God makes the page. 

For all these teachers we give praise, 

For diverse lessons from above ; 
But dearer in our common ways 

Is wisdom toned by lips we love. 

Interpreter of signs in each, 

Is he for whom our thanks we bring ; 
A heaven-led guide, with soul-touched speech, 

Whose blessings now we gladly sing. 

May visions with new insight fraught, 

Of love and law, upon us grow; 
And we, the teacher and the taught, 

Like children, ever heavenward go ! 



30 APPENDIX. 

ANNIVERSARY HYMN. 

BY MRS. C. M. BURGESS. 
Tune : Hummel. 

O Thou who didst our lives appoint, 
And numberest all our days, 

With grateful hearts we bring to thee 
Our song of love and praise. 

Of all thy good and perfect gifts, 

More precious to us none 
Than this true teacher of thy word, 

And follower of thy Son. 

We thank thee, Father, length of years 
And strength to him are given, 

To guide and teach our doubting souls 
The way to thee and heaven. 

Still let thy grace his soul renew, 
Thy love inspire his heart ; 

Still give him strength and zeal and power 
Thy wisdom to impart, 

Till all shall feel the power of truth 
And thy redeeming love, — 

Disciples worthy, Lord, we trust, 
To dwell with thee above. 



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